Mass Effect: Fallen
by XxSniperAssassinxX
Summary: <html><head></head>Mass Effect: Fallen tells the story of the events that unfold after Shepard leaves Earth. Andrew McAllen, Robert Zero, and Katlin Frost find themselves running, and fighting, for their lives on the war-torn Earth. Fighting against impossible odds is one thing. Doing it in your own home is another. (Co-authored by RiftBlade00, Draeda Ytter, and my girlfriend (no name).) -Incomplete</html>
1. Prologue

This is more of a character introduction. If you don't care about background and all that fun stuff, then it's safe to go straight to Chapter One.

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><p><strong>Prologue<strong>

Destruction. If I could describe the Reapers in one word, that would be it. Pure, total, complete destruction. They were the size of small skyscrapers, and those were just the small ones. The big ones were the size of two large skyscrapers stacked on top of each other. They had more firepower than twelve Alliance dreadnaughts combined, and could each take as much of a beating as the Citadel probably could.

When the big ones started landing on Earth, we were all stunned. None of us could believe the size of those things or how much damage they were doing! Before we knew it, the sky was black with smoke and there were explosions everywhere.

We saw hordes of these zombie things chasing people down streets and into their homes. I don't want to think about what probably happened inside. We were lucky there was only a small group of us, otherwise, we might all be dead. And this is where our story begins. It begins with Hell on Earth.

The day the Reapers came was the most beautiful day I've ever seen. We were in Vancouver, hoping to get a glimpse of Commander Shepard. We'd been there for a week or so, but never really saw him. We had rented a room in a tall apartment complex across from the large Alliance building Shepard was rumored to be in. There were three of us; Robert, Katlin, and myself.

Robert, or Rob as we called him, was about the same height as me, if not a little taller. He had this crazy brown hair and violet eyes. He was always wearing his black Norwegian Jacket we got from a store in Vancouver. He had rather pale skin as well, and always seemed to be smiling or laughing.

Katlin, who also had her name shortened to Kat, was the smallest of us all. She barely came up to my neck and I could wrap my hands around her calf, with room to spare. She had beautiful grey eyes and pastel purple hair. She was also the palest of us all, somehow managing to beat Rob in paleness. Her laugh and smile always made Rob and I do the same. She always has a way of making our day.

And then there's me. I'm about 5'9", fairly pale skin, dark brown hair, and grey/blue eyes. Yeah, it's sort of a mix of grey and blue. Weird, right? My hair is crazy most of the time; not as crazy as Rob's, but still pretty crazy. I'm also a rather powerful biotic. I once picked Rob up and tossed him across the room for a bet he lost.

Katlin and I had also been dating for quite some time. I'd never admit it, but I don't exactly remember how long. This also makes living with Rob a bit awkward, as he has feelings for her as well. I'm sort of the lone wolf in our little group. I'd rarely come out of the apartment, I usually prefered doing things alone or with Katlin, and I would rather hole up in the apartment and play video games instead of go outside.

We were all fifteen, but Kat was the oldest and Rob was the youngest. Robert was born in December, Katlin in March, and myself in May. Robert and Katlin were both born on Noveria, which explains their paleness. I was born on Omega. Both my parents were killed in a gang war when I was ten.

Two years later, I ended the war by killing every member of the opposing gang, single handedly. That drew the attention of Aria T'loak. Surprisingly, she took me in as her son and trained me to become an even more powerful biotic, rivaling most Asari. When I turned fifteen, I decided I wanted to see what life was like outside of Omega, so I bought a ticket to Noveria. That's where I met Robert and Katlin. We met at one of the ports and have been friends ever since.

I also suffer from depression. I've self harmed, and still do occasionally. I have suicidal thoughts and have actually taken my M-3 Predator to my head. Katlin stopped me before I pulled the trigger, though. This was the day Rob was buying his Jacket.

They left about half an hour ago, but Katlin had forgotten her money. I was sitting in my room on my bed. I'd cut about ten minutes after they had left, and didn't bother to clean up the blood.

She walked into my room to ask me if I had seen her money, and her hand shot to her mouth. There was a small puddle of blood near my feet, my bloodied razor was on the floor, and the gun was to my head. She simply squeaked and I shot my head up, tears in my eyes.

And that's how we were for a few minutes. She just stood there, stunned, and I was sitting on my bed, bleeding with a gun to my head. Finally, she hit the gun aside and hugged me. We sat there until Rob walked in, wondering why Kat hadn't come back.

He, too, was shocked. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Both Katlin and I were crying, the blood on my wrist and floor had dried, and my room was a complete mess.

After that day, both of them kept a very close eye on me. Katlin was always with me wherever I went, and Rob was always checking in to see how I was doing. Since then, I had improved. I rarely cut anymore, and I hadn't had a gun to my head since. But enough about the past, let's get into the present. The bloody, dark, Reaper-filled present.


	2. Chapter One: Hell On Earth

This chapter's an interesting one. I tied to describe the invasion as accurately as I could, so don't yell at me if I left something out or whatever. Anyway, happy reading!

~Written by XxSniperAssassinxX

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><p>September 25, 2186<p>

Vancouver, Canada

9:23 am

Andrew McAllen

This morning was pretty much just like any other morning. It was almost routine. Katlin woke me up at around 9:15 am via flopping onto my stomach, and Rob had already made a plate of pancakes.

I had slept in what I wore yesterday, which happened to be a pair of black jeans, dark blue t-shirt, and my black "Citadel" hoodie I bought on the Citadel. Kat was wearing a black and blue striped tank-top and black shorts. She had done the same as me and slept in her clothes from yesterday.

A thin mist hung over Vancouver and the sun was just popping over the Alliance building we lived across from. Like I said, nearly routine. It would've been perfect if I hadn't turned on the news. I sat down on the couch in front of our tv and Katlin hopped in my lap.

Rob sat in his fancy-ass leather recliner he bought about a week ago. Thing cost 4,000 credits! But he had been eyeing that recliner for quite some time, so I didn't scold him. Not like he would've listened if I had though.

Rob was wearing a pair of black pants, a grey t-shirt, and his black Norwegian jacket. Anyone who didn't live with him would think he never took it off; even in the shower. After I turned on ANN and saw that Omega had been attacked by a rogue black ops organization, Emily Wong popped up on the screen.

"Breaking news! A group of Alliance frigates have spotted a massive fleet of unknown ships heading towards Earth." We all looked at each other, speechless.

When we heard about Sovereign and the Geth attacking the Citadel, we always had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of the Reapers.

Turns out we were right. Pixilated images of the "unknown" ships showed on the tv, and we could easily tell they were Reapers. Katlin put her hand to her mouth and started shaking her head. Rob and I just sat forward, desperate for more news.

As soon as Emily was about to say more, the tv turned off. We all stared at the blank screen when an explosion shook the building. Once again, we looked at each other. Katlin was the one to finally break the silence. "W-What was th-that?"

Rob got up and looked outside. Katlin and I simply watched from the couch. That's when we first saw it; the massive insect-like leg breaking through the clouds. Then another leg followed, then two more, and then the whole Reaper landed next to a skyscraper.

None of us could believe what we were seeing. We watched two more Reapers land in the city, and a bunch of smaller ones rained down from the sky. The big ones started launching these little orbs and dragons.

The orbs shot down Alliance fighters trying to attack the Reapers, while the dragons dropped ground forces on civilians in the street. Before we knew it, everything was in total chaos. The sky was black with smoke, buildings were collapsing, and the streets were paved with the dead.

But in our apartment, it was nearly dead silent. Katlin was crying into my shoulder, Rob was busy packing bags, and I was frozen in place. "_The Reapers are on Earth."_ I kept saying over and over in my head.

It was only when Rob shook me awake when I finally realized we need to get to that Alliance building and find Shepard, or at least someone who could fight.

I got up off the couch, carrying Katlin bridal style into my room. I set her on the bed and began packing our bags. I put extra clothes, food, her laptop, and twelve thermal clips for my M-3 Predator in the bag I would be carrying. I handed her my pistol and a few thermal clips.

She refused the gun.

"Katlin," I began. "Rob's got his shotgun, I've got my biotics, you don't have anything. You need the gun, Kat. Please. I'm not gonna leave you defenseless if we start getting swarmed by Reapers." With that, she took the gun from my hands.

I noticed she was shaking, bad, so I gave her a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek, reassuring her we'd be okay. Rob came into the room, carrying his bag and shotgun. Rob had bought his AT-12 Raider off a Turian merchant on the Citadel a year ago when we visited his aunt. The Raider cost 12,000 credits, and he bought a smart choke and underbarrel omni-blade.

Rob grabbed my bag and tossed it over his shoulders. "We need to get moving, Husks are already trying to get through the doors." I looked over at Katlin and she nodded slowly. "Alright," I replied.

On the way down to the lobby, everything was eerily quiet. Nobody was in the halls, no-one at the pool, arcade, bar, even the receptionists were missing. We all assumed everyone had fled to their rooms, but we had a feeling they had a much worse fate. As soon as we got down to the lobby, an explosion just outside the building blew the double-doors leading into the building open.

Burnt bodies flew through the opening. I noticed multiple humans and the two Krogan who were guarding the entrance to the building. Katlin screamed and fell over, firing a few rounds at the door.

Instead of hitting nothing but air, we actually heard a scream. A terrifying inhuman scream. The dead body of a Husk fell forward through the opening, multiple holes in it's head and chest.

Rob and I rushed over to Katlin to help her up when three more Husks ran through the door. I launched a Singularity at them, lifting them off the ground and compacting them together so Rob could take them out with his AT-12.

He fired both rounds into the clump of Husks floating in mid-air, killing the group. We then got Kat back up. She was shaking badly and instead of firing only a few rounds, she had fired the entire thermal clip. She was still pulling the trigger, staring at the door.

"Kat, we got 'em!" Rob shouted at her as I took the gun away from her, popping in a new thermal clip. Katlin blinked a few times and stared at Rob, clearly in shock. After a moment, she finally replied, "O-okay."

Surprisingly, no more Husks came through that door. We decided it was too risky to try to get out the back, so we went through the front doors. Robert went through first to check that it was clear. We felt another explosion far away and we felt a shock wave hit the building. The

Rob rushed back in, a shocked look on his face. "They just took out an Alliance dreadnought!"

"We knew they would be powerful! Remember what Sovereign did to the Citadel?"

That seemed to snap him back to reality. "We need to get moving! The path clear to the Alliance building?"

I continued. He checked once more and motioned us over. Katlin followed closely behind me, holding my hand tightly, a tight grip on her M-3 as well.

We saw a massive burning hole in the side of the Alliance building, with smaller ones all over it. Rob then pointed far to the right and we saw two figures running across the roof of the building.

"Shepard and Admiral David Anderson. Found an M-97 Viper Sniper Rifle on a dead Alliance marine. That's how I know it's them." Rob then pointed to a white sniper rifle laying on the ground by his feet. I picked it up and collapsed it, then put it in my bag on Rob's back. Kat spoke up. "Then we need to get to them. Shepard and Anderson will have a plan for fighting back. They have to."

Both Rob and I looked over at Katlin. She said that with confidence we thought she'd lost from the shock of seeing Reapers on Earth. I just nodded, and Rob gave her his AT-12. "Here," he began. "I think I've got a plan, but neither of you are going to like it. If we all stick together down here, we won't know if anything's coming."

"But, if we have someone up above with the sniper rifle, the people on the ground can have a bit of heads up and even covering fire if they need it." He pulled the sniper from my bag.

"I'll get up on the rooftops and spot for you guys. Move through the street to Shepard and Anderson, I'll cover you two if more Reapers show up. We'll meet up at that massive hole."

I grabbed the rifle from Rob's hands. "Like hell you are! If we're splitting up like that, I'll be the one to go. I can move faster and I'm biotic. It doesn't make sense for you to go!" He grabbed it back.

"Yeah, it does! Katlin needs you with her. Me?" He chuckled to himself. "I'm expendable. She needs you more than me. Now go! You've got my shotgun, your pistol and your biotics!"

Katlin pulled my hand, pointing upward with her M-3, not a single trace of fear on her face. "Andrew, we need to get moving! Like, now!" Rob and I looked up and saw a couple of the dragon things fly overhead. I looked over at Rob. "You die, I'll kill you. Get moving!"

And with that, he ran off toward a tall building to our left. Katlin and I ran as fast as we could to the Alliance building.

The street was lined with burt bodies, mangled corpses, and a few fresh dead. We saw countless civilians, dead Alliance marines, and bloody Husks everywhere.

But in addition to the Husks, we saw a new Reaper. It's face sort of looked like a Batarian, but it had these lumps all over it's torso and back. There was a canon-like thing on it's arm and cybernetics all over it's body, sort of like the Husks, but these new ones were a lot paler.

I thought to myself, "_Could the Reapers be turning Batarians into these things?"_ I looked back at Katlin as we ran. She must've been thinking the same thing as me, because right when I looked back at her, she spoke up.

"The Reapers must've turned the Batarians into those things when they hit Khar'shan. They must be doing the same with captured civilians, too. Turning them into Husks like the Geth did on Eden Prime."

I nodded back and nearly stumbled from a series of explosions. We hear the noise of a ship moving, and we looked upward.

The _Normandy_, Commander Shepard's ship, was running. She was turning about and flying away from the Reapers. We saw the top of a smaller Reaper following it, but the _Normandy_ got away before it could fire. "Shepard's running!?" Kat shouted at me.

I looked back at her again. "He must have a good reason! The _Normandy_ can't take on the Reapers alone, and neither can humanity. He could be going to the Citadel to get help for Earth." She nodded, then her eyes went wide. I looked back forward and mine did the same.

A group of those Batarian creatures and a large swarm of Husks were engaging Alliance marines in front of the entrance to the building we were heading to.

There were only five marines, and there had to be at least thirty Reapers attacking them. Katlin and I stopped and she handed me Rob's shotgun. "I'll fire on the Reapers from a distance. You get in close with your biotics and the shotgun to take them out with the marines." She practically just gave me an order. The amount of confidence in her voice surprised me a bit.

I took the shotgun from her hands. "Be careful. If they start heading towards you or if I get swarmed, don't be a hero."

"No promises, especially if you're gonna die." she replied defiantly. I gave her an 'I'm not kidding' look and began running towards the Reapers.

The Alliance marines were pinned down bad. They had Husks rushing them and Reaperfied Batarians firing at them from a distance. I could hear the familiar fire of an N7 Piranha and an ML-77 Missile Launcher. The other three marines were firing M-7 Avengers into the Husks, mowing them down with ease. Even with all this firepower, the Reaper were steadily getting closer.

I launched a Singularity into the group, lifting a couple Husks and a Batarian off the ground. About half the Husks and a few Batarians turned toward me. I fired a Throw at the group caught by my Singularity and they exploded.

The explosion knocked the rest of the Batarians down and killed a few Husks. The group of Husks rushing me, however, remained unharmed until a few of them dropped dead. I looked back at Katlin, laying prone with her M-3 steadied on a piece of rubble.

She was dropping Husks with headshots from sixty meters away. I figured she had plenty of ammo to deal with the Husks, so I engaged the Batarians. I rolled toward them, to dodge a grenade one of them threw, and they began firing at me.

My barriers took a few hits and I hit one of them with a Warp. The Warp damaged it, but it didn't go down. Then, a few rounds flew through it's back and it dropped dead. The Alliance marines had takes care of the Reapers engaging them and were now helping me. A Husk grabbed me from behind and I launched him off with a swift punch to the face.

Katlin fired a few rounds at the crowd of Husks, dropping a couple more. The three marines with the Avengers took out the other Batarian and the others fired into the Husks. I unloaded a thermal clip into the Husks as well, finishing the group off.

Katlin got up and ran over to me, popping a fresh thermal clip into her pistol. The Alliance marines approached me as well.

One of them, the leader by the looks of him, took his helmet off. He had short scruffy grey hair, dark brown eyes, and a long scar across his face. "Damn good fighting there." He extended his hand and I shook it. He had a surprisingly tight grip.

"Thank you, sir." I replied. He let go of my hand and put his helmet back on. "We're trying to find Admiral Anderson. Commander Shepard fled in the Normandy. You two fought pretty well together. Mind helping us find him?"

That took me by surprise. "_I just got invited to an Alliance marine squad."_ I kept repeating in my head. I was speechless for a moment before finally answering yes. He looked over at Katlin. "You biotic like your friend?" He asked her.

"No," She replied. "He's the only biotic in our group of three friends. Our other friend, Robert, went up the the rooftops to cover us with a sniper rifle he found." Just after Katlin finished her sentence, we heard a Husk scream.

A small group of Husks ran out of a building to our left. One of the dragon things flew over us as well, dropping more Batarians on us. The marines opened fire on the Batarians and Katlin and I engaged the Husks.

I ran up to Husks and hit them with a Shockwave, toppling the entire group. I shot two of them with my AT-12 and Kat killed three with her M-3. I killed the last one with a pull, followed by a throw. I looked back at the marines and they had taken care of the Batarians.

More Husks poured out of the building closest to the Marines and were immediately met with gunfire. While I was distracted by the Husk attack on the marines, a Husk tackled me from behind.

It knocked me to the ground and tried to start clawing at me. I kept it's hands off me and stabbed the AT-12's omni-blade through it's side, killing it. Before I had the chance to get up and see how Katlin was doing, another Husk hit my gun away.

It got on top of me and tried clawing. I put my hands up and fought it off, but I couldn't get the damn thing off me. Katlin hadn't helped me out, either, so I assumed she was busy killing something else.

The Husk screamed at me and went for my neck with it's teeth. I headbutted it and punched it in the side of the head. It finally rolled off me. I rolled on top of it and charged a punch with my biotics, sending my fist straight through it's head.

I stumbled to my feet and noticed Katlin, her back against a wall and multiple Husks approaching her. "Katlin!" I screamed at her as I jumped up and slammed my fist down in the crowd of husks around Kat. The Husks flew away and slammed against walls from my Nova. I grabbed Kat's hand and started running towards the Alliance building.

I looked back at the marines and saw two of them dead, the others being swarmed by a massive crowd of Husks. The horde hadn't noticed us, however, and I decided that if we tried helping the marines we'd be killed ourselves.

Once we had reached the entrance to the building, Katlin pulled on my hand, hard. She pointed back at the marines. "What about them, huh!? Are we gonna leave them after they helped us?"

"Look at them, Katlin!" She looked back and saw there were only two left; one of the M-7 Avengers and the N7 Piranha. There had to be at least sixty Husks swarming them, and I knew even if we had the rest of their squad and Rob, we couldn't take them. Kat looked back at me as the two marines were pulled to the ground by the Husks. She nodded slightly and we ran further into the building.


	3. Chapter Two: Crashing Down

Here's the second chapter! Now we get to learn what happened to Zero when he split up with Andrew and Katlin. Happy reading!

~Written by RiftBlade00

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><p>September 25, 2186<p>

Vancouver, Canada

9:29 am

Robert Zero

As I ran into the building that surprisingly hadn't collapsed due to the Reapers, I couldn't help but feel a sense of absolute dread. Something bad was going to happen, and it was going to happen soon. As I made my way up the stairwell, I saw things that made me sick to my stomach. Mutilated corpses everywhere. Some without their limbs, some without their heads. I even saw one that looked to be skinned alive. Occasionally I'd come across a dead husk, but those were far and few. It made me sick.

As I moved up the building, the bodies increased. It came to the point where there were so many bodies that I needed to step on them to get to the next set of stairs. After losing count of what floor I was on, I had to lean against the rail on the stairs to catch my breath. After a minute or so of this, I felt my adrenaline wear off. Without a second thought, I leaned over and threw up on the floor. After a few minutes of nothing but vomit, I forced myself to stop.

"Now...is not the time to crack." I told myself softly, and I immediately wished that I hadn't. It seemed that the noise had attracted a husk, and before I knew it I was tumbling down the stairs. I heard my head crack against the floor, and I saw the husk running at me. I sluggishly raised my rifle and fired once. It satisfied me when it's head popped. The back of my head felt like three burning hot metal poles had been jammed into it, but I couldn't stop. I promised them that I would spot for them, and I was intent on keeping that promise. I climbed up the stairs once more and continued down the hall. All of a sudden, the lights in the building shut off.

Fuck. A power outage. Just fantastic.

I turned to the left and walked towards a small-ish window. I gazed out and saw that there was absolute pandemonium. So much gunfire, so many explosions...so many corpses…

I managed to look past them, and I saw Andrew and Kat rushing through the streets, often taking down many enemies with them. I allowed myself a smile.

"Good. Now stay alive, you jerks." I muttered, turning and rushing up yet another flight of stairs. After more time elapsed, I saw a door silhouetted with light seeping through the cracks. I ran faster and smashed through it, collapsing as soon as I went through it. I heard a demonic growl. I looked up slowly, and saw four husks and a distinctly female looking husk with a pointy head looking at me.

"Fuck my life." I muttered, using the last of my strength to jump up and fire my rifle multiple times at them. I hit all of the regular husks, but not the odd looking one. It raised an arm, and I felt myself being lifted up with biotics.

"So, you're a special one, eh?" I shout, feeling blood trailing down my chin. That head wound must have been more serious than I had originally thought. It growled and spat at me in response. I laughed, and managed to wriggle my right arm free. I raised my middle finger.

"Fuck. You." I said, and as soon as I did, I no longer found myself on the building. It took me a moment to realize it had chucked me off the building. I felt my heart beat erratically. So, this is it, then.

I turned in midair and saw I had been thrown straight towards an Alliance building. From the looks of it, I had ten seconds before I crashed.

"So, this is it, it seems." I muttered sullenly.

9…

"I hope they're alright. It'd be a shame if they died."

8…

"Hmm, talking to myself in my final hour. Of course I'd do that." I chuckled, my head pain beginning to fade.

7…

"It was a good life, I suppose."

6…

"Too bad I couldn't get a girlfriend." I said, laughing.

5…

Slowly, tears began to fall down my face.

4…

3…

"He always has had a way with girls." I chuckled, tears still falling. The building was so close now.

2…

"I don't want to go." I muttered.

1…

"Goodbye. Sorry I couldn't make it, friends."

_**CRACK.**_

I felt a split second of unimaginable pain, and then darkness consumed me.


	4. Chapter Three: Anderson

Hallo everyone! This is where things get really interesting, and really dramatic. Remember; criticism is always appreciated. I know I'm not a perfect author. Anyway, happy reading!

~Written by XxSniperAssassinxX

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><p>September 25, 2186<p>

Vancouver, Canada

9:38 am

Andrew McAllen

The Alliance building was in surprisingly good shape, considering it got shot up by Reapers. A large majority of the lights and computers still worked, most of the white walls were intact, with only a few burn marks here and there.

The amount of living people in the building also surprised me. People were rushing about everywhere. Marines ran to doors to defend them against Reaper attacks, Alliance officers and techs ran from computer to computer, terminal to terminal.

Civilians filled whole rooms that were cleared out to make more space for them. Tables with weapons laying on them dotted the halls.

A group of marines were fitting civilians with armor and handing them rifles. I assumed the civilians had volunteered, but there was always the possibility the Alliance marines were simply under-manned.

We heard a loud explosion and a terminal across the hall blew up. The tech working at it flew back and hit the wall. A few people rushed over to him and he put a hand to his head, telling them to get back to work.

Katlin and I simply walked deeper into the building. A large squad of marines brushed past us, running back to where we came in from. "_They must be trying to deal with all those Husks we saw back there."_ I thought to myself.

We walked past one of the weapon tables, and I nabbed a fragmentation grenade when the marine wasn't looking. "_Might need this later_."

I collapsed Rob's AT-12 and started wondering where he was. "_He said he'd cover us, but I never saw him. Did something happen to him?"_ I kept thinking about Rob; worrying if he was alive or not.

Kat must've been able to sense my worry and gave my hand a tight squeeze. "I'm sure Rob's fine," She said reassuringly.

I nodded and squeezed her hand back. We turned a corner and walked up a few flights of stairs, going past countless floors. The higher we got, the busier things got and the more orderly chaotic they became.

We saw Alliance marines and a few officers with rocket launchers and sniper rifles firing from windows. Marines with shotguns guarded doors, and techs and officers with pistols patrolled the area.

We got higher up and turned into a large open room. I realized that the room was open from the massive burning hole in the side of it, opening it up to the outside. "_This must be that huge hole we saw_." I walked over to the edge and looked down.

Gunfire was raining down onto a massive crowd of Batarians and Husks. I spat down on the group and waited a few seconds. A Batarian look up at the hole, but must not have been able to see me.

I chuckled, remembering when I used to do that all the time to kids at my school.

Then I heard Katlin scream.

I turned around and found her kneeling next to a puddle of blood. I looked a bit closer and noticed a body; the puddle around it's head.

Then I noticed the black Norwegian jacket.

My eyes went wide and I rushed over to him.

"Rob!" I shouted as I skidded to a stop next to him. He was either unconscious or dead. His skull was cracked and his rifle was missing. His clothes and body seemed to be unharmed, except for his head, which was bleeding badly.

I activated my omni-tool and applied the medi-gel I always kept in reserve, in case we needed it at the apartment.

His head healed, but he still didn't move. I checked his breathing and felt small shallow breaths coming from his mouth.

"He's just unconscious." I told Katlin. She let out a sigh of relief as a tear rolled down her face. I grabbed her hand and squeezed, then got up to look around a bit more.

After failing to find the bags or the M-97 Viper Rob had, I walked back to the hole and heard something hit the floor next to me. I looked to my left and saw Admiral Anderson, The Admiral Anderson, looking at me.

His uniform was burnt and torn. He looked like he'd been in a serious fight, and it wouldn't surprise me if he was. He looked over our little group, the M-3 Predator in his hand raised slightly.

"Who're all of you?" He asked us. Katlin was too busy tending to Rob, so I answered.

"We're civilians. We came from that apartment building over there," I pointed to our apartment and realized it wasn't there. It was now a large pile of rubble on the street.

I couldn't believe our apartment, our home, was now just a pile of rubble. Anderson patted my back to wake me up. "It's all right, son. Go on. You came from that apartment building?"

"Yeah," I replied. "We came from there and worked our way through the streets to this building. Our friend, Robert," I pointed back at Rob's unconscious body. "Found a sniper rifle and spotted you and Commander Shepard running across the roof. Then he ran into a building to cover us with the rifle.

"He never did, though, and I have no idea how he ended up here. We helped some Alliance marines down by the entrance hold back waves of Husks and those Reaperfied Batarian things, but the marines were overwhelmed. Katlin," I pointed back at Katlin. "And I managed to escape into the building while this Reapers were focused on the Alliance marines."

Anderson pondered this for a moment. "I see. Those Batarians and called Cannibals. They consume dead bodies of other Cannibals and armor themselves with the absorbed tissue. How did you help the marines?"

I showed Anderson Rob's AT-12 Raider in my hand and pointed to my M-3 Predator next to Katlin. "We had those, and I'm a biotic. Aria T'Loak trained me herself." That obviously got Anderson's attention. "Aria T'Loak? So you grew up on Omega?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I began. "My parents were killed in a gang war on Omega. I got revenge by killing the entire opposing gang. That got the attention of Aria. She took me in, trained me, treated me like her son -er- daughter."

Both Anderson and I chuckled a bit, then I continued ranting. "After a while, I wanted to get off Omega and see what outside life was like. I went to Noveria and met Robert and Katlin."

He raised an eyebrow at my story. "Interesting. You must be a pretty powerful biotic then, being trained by Aria."

I nodded and felt a slight shudder in the floor. Anderson noticed it too. We felt another shudder, and a deep, electric, monstrous noise come from outside the building. Anderson and I looked outside and saw a Reaper heading towards us.

This wasn't one of the small ones, either. This was one of the big ones. The building crushers. The ones that blow through dreadnaughts like wet tissue paper.

That wasn't all that was coming at us, either. There were a group of those dragon things, swarms of the orbs, and two more little Reapers following the big one.

"Shit biscuits," I mumbled. "That's a lot of Reapers."

Anderson turned around and walked toward Rob. "We need to get everyone out of here. How many people are left in this building?"

"Lots," I replied. "We saw a ton of techs, officers, and marines coming up. And I'm sure this isn't even the top floor. I doubt we'd be able to get everyone out in time." Anderson kneeled down next to Rob and Kat.

He looked at Kat and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come with me. We'll get you and your friend out of here. If I can get him medical attention, he'll be alright."

Katlin nodded and I noticed little tears rolling down her cheeks. Anderson grunted as he picked Rob up and tossed him over his shoulder.

I grabbed Katlin's hand and helped her up. I wiped her tears and she smiled weakly up at me.

We walked back down a few stories, the building constantly being rocked by explosions.

Anderson was ordering officers around, and the officers passed on Anderson's order to everyone else. This had to have been the most orderly evacuation I've ever seen. We didn't exactly have single-file lines to the shuttlebay, but it wasn't complete chaos either.

Marines were still firing into the horde outside the building, but the officers were directing everyone else, including the techs, to the shuttle bay to be evacuated.

The civilians were loaded into the shuttles first, then the techs, and then officers. Once a shuttle was filled, it hovered at the top of the hanger to make room for more shuttles to land and be loaded.

The evacuation was going smoothly until a massive explosion rocked the building. Everything stopped. The entire building was dead silent. We heard another explosion, and a stack of crates fell over.

"Keep the evacuation going!" Anderson shouted above the silence. A few marines relayed his orders, and the evacuation commenced. Katlin and I watched from behind the pile of fallen crates, Rob's unconscious body leaning against a nearby wall.

Anderson walked over and tapped me on the shoulder to get my attention. "We need more riflemen. You know how to fire a rifle?" I nodded in reply. "Great. Follow me and we'll get you suited up."

He walked off toward a heavy-looking door that a marine armed with a Scimitar Assault Shotgun was guarding. I followed, and the marine let him in, but stopped me.

"This area is restricted to civilians." He told me with a gruff british accent.

Anderson tapped his helmet. "He's with me, Major." The marine nodded and let me through.

The room we had entered was an improvised armory. There were tables and lockers overflowing with weapons and ammunition. Crates were filled with armor and medi-gel. Anderson grabbed an M-99 Sabre from a locker and handed it to me.

It expanded and revealed an assault rifle thermal scope attached to it. I examined it for a moment and shouldered it, finding it fit me perfectly, although it was rather heavy. I set the rifle down on a crate and Anderson tossed me a blue Alliance marine helmet. I examined it for a moment and looked up at Anderson.

"You're going to need armor, son." He said as he set a crate with the rest of the armor down at my feet. "That rifle also has a thermal clip upgrade. You're going to be sharpshooting with Major Coats."

I stared at the Admiral, a bit shocked. I finally got out of my trance and snapped to a salute. "Yes, sir!"

After I got in my shiny new armor, which I just put on over my clothes, Anderson and I walked out of the armory. The Major noticed me in the set of armor with the rifle, grabbed my arm, and just stared at me. He then look at Anderson. "What the hell is this kid doing in armor, sir?"

Anderson put a hand on the Major's shoulder. "Coats, I know Daniel's death is still fresh, but you need another sharpshooter. The rest of our marines are holding off the Reapers, and I can't spare anyone else. This kid here held off waves of husks and cannibals. He can hold is own in a fight," Anderson patted him on the shoulder. "Just trust me here." The Major nodded and let go of my arm.

"Though I am a bit nervous about taking civilian volunteers," Anderson continued as the three of us walked to a shuttle at the far end of the room. I looked over at Rob and Katlin when we passed them. Rob was still out cold, and Katlin was watching over him. I smiled a little and thought to myself, "_She's always so helpful_." My smile vanished. "_I hope they'll be okay…."_

Once we reached the shuttle, Anderson turned to face us. "Andrew, do you know how to fly a UT-47 Kodiak?"

I looked at the controls for a moment, then back at Anderson. "How much different is it from a skycar?"

Anderson chuckled a bit. "Not that different. So I take it you can fly one?" I nodded. "Good," Anderson continued. "You'll be my pilot." He turned to face Coats. "Grab that crate over there," Anderson pointed to a crate near the door leading into the hanger. "And put it in the shuttle. Then bring Andrew's friends and anyone else who isn't on a shuttle already here as well."

Coats saluted and went off to follow Anderson's orders.

Anderson left to continue organizing the evacuation, and I decided to take a look at the shuttle controls. They looked complicated from a distance, but as I got closer I realized they weren't that much different from skycar controls.

I heard footsteps behind me and I saw Coats set down the crate. That's when we felt another explosion. But this one didn't feel like it came from outside. It felt like it came from inside the building. From right outside this room. Once again, everything stopped dead, even Coats was frozen in place.

Anderson rushed into the shuttle as we felt another one. "There's a reaper right outside the hangar! We need to launch now!" I nodded, and Anderson tapped Coats on the shoulder. "Everyone but Andrew's friends are in shuttles, go get them and get them on here so we can lift off." Coats rushed out of the shuttle, and there was another building-shaking explosion.

Anderson sat down in the co-pilot seat and we began warming the shuttle up. I turned the ventral thrusters on and the shuttle jumped about a foot off the ground. Katlin, Rob, and Coats hopped into the shuttle and sat down as we felt yet another explosion. Anderson turned on his Omni-tool and issued the order to evacuate.

A large pair of doors at the far end of the hangar opened and a Reaper Destroyer peered it's head inside.

My eyes went wide as it powered up it's canon. I pulled the shuttle up and it fired at the shuttle closest to it. The shuttle exploded and hit the floor. Every other shuttle rose up the the roof and a couple of them tried getting out over the Destroyer, and it shot down every one of them.

While I was trying to figure out how the hell we were going to get out of here, every shuttle in the hangar rushed the Reaper. Once I noticed how they were all trying to go over the Reaper, I got an idea. I lowered us back to the hangar floor and gunned it.

While the Reaper was focused on shooting down the fleet of shuttles going over it, it didn't notice the one shuttle going below it. Just before we reached the hangar doors, a flaming shuttle crashed right in front of us and took out our front right thruster. We banked hard right from the impact and skidded on the floor.

I barely managed to pull up and steady the shuttle before hitting the Reaper's leg. I struggled to dodge the Reaper's other leg as it began backing up. I looked over at Anderson once we were clear of the Reaper.

As soon as we were clear, Anderson ordered the remaining shuttles to an old shipyard a few miles east of here. I looked around and saw about four of the formerly twelve shuttles fly off to the coordinates Anderson gave them.

I turned to Anderson. "Can we make it to the shipyard with the damage?"

"We should be able to. I don't think one thruster will make much of a difference."

I nodded and looked at the four surviving shuttles again.

While Anderson was flying the shuttle to the shipyard, I decided to go check on Rob and Katlin. Rob was harnessed into a seat, still out cold. Katlin was in the seat next to him, holding onto the harness, her eyes closed tight.

Coats was standing in the middle of the shuttle like he had done this a thousand times. I walked past Coats and kneeled down in front of Katlin. Her knuckles were white, and she was shaking.

I placed one of my hands over hers and started lightly stroking it with my thumb. Eventually, she opened her eyes and looked at me with small tears in her eyes. I smiled a little and kissed her forehead just before the shuttle began violently shaking.

Katlin squeaked and closed her eyes again, tightening her grip on the harness. Coats was strapping into a seat as I got up and sat back down in the cockpit. "The shuttle can't stay in the air for much longer!" Anderson shouted above the sound of the shuttle shaking. "We need somewhere to set down!"

I looked around the heavily damaged city for a place to land. Surprisingly, most buildings were still standing. They were burnt, falling apart, flaming, and nearly demolished, but still standing.

I kept looking until I found a Hospital with a landing pad on the roof. The building had several large holes in the sides, half of one side had collapsed, and there was a group of Cannibals patrolling the roof. I looked back at Coats and shouted above the shuttle shaking, "Coats, I'm gonna land us on a building with a Cannibal patrol. You ready?"

Coats got out of his harness and expanded his M-98 Widow sniper rifle. "I'm ready," he replied.

I circled around the pad once before opening the side door. Even with the shuttle shaking itself apart, Coats fired his rifle and downed a Cannibal. The death of their comrade got their attention better than the shuttle did.

Four of the six, formerly seven, Cannibals began firing on us while the other two proceeded to consume the fallen Reaper. Coats reloaded and fired again, popping the head of a Cannibal engaging us.

I struggled to set the shuttle down with the damage and gunfire hindering me. When a grenade pinged off the cockpit, I finally just said fuck it.

I turned to shuttle to face the Cannibals, and I began my descent. "Brace for impact!" I shouted at everyone in the back as Anderson and I braced ourselves against the controls. It was a couple seconds before we crashed into the group, sending all five remaining Cannibals flying off the roof.

We skidded for several meters before coming to a stop right at the edge of the roof. I quickly got up and checked on everyone. Anderson was fine, Coats had barely managed to get into his harness in time, Katlin had passed out, and Rob was still out as well. I turned back to Anderson. "Anderson, you have things handled here?"

He nodded yes, and I continued. "I'm gonna go look around, see if I can find some supplies or something to repair the shuttle." I pulled out my Sabre and expanded it.

As soon as I did that, Katlin began waking up. I set my Sabre on an empty seat and helped her come to. The groaned and put a hand to her head, shaking it slightly. "You okay?" I asked her softly.

She nodded yes, then looked over at Rob. He was still unconscious, and I was starting to get worried that he'd never wake up. The sound of Coats slamming a fresh thermal clip into his Widow snapped me back to my previous task. I whispered to Coats, "Keep them safe," And walked out of the shuttle.

Before I got a meter from the shuttle, I heard Katlin scream at me. I ran back inside and she tackle-hugged me. "I'm coming with you!" She said.

"No, you need to stay here with Anderson and Coats. It's too dangerous for you to come with me. " I replied. She pulled an M-8 Avenger out of the weapons locker on the shuttle and expanded it, shouldering the rifle.

"If it's too dangerous for me," She began. "Then it's too dangerous for you. Yeah, you've got your biotics and your fancy armor and rifle, but you can still get killed. You don't have anyone to watch your back, and you don't have anyone to help you. Rob's still out, Anderson and Coats need to stay here to guard the shuttle. I'm the only one who can come with you."

I stared down at her, and she stared back up at me with both defiance and fear in her eyes. "Fine," I growled. "But if I say get down, you drop. If I say stay where you are, you don't move an inch. I'm I'm pinned down and I tell you to run, you run back here as fast as you can. Okay?" She hesitated before nodding yes.

We had barely walked ten meters from the shuttle before a grenade exploded and threw me off the roof.


	5. Chapter Four: Guardian Angels

Sorry for the shortness of this one, guys! How'd you all like the cliffhanger in the last chapter? Get you itching for more? Well, here it is. Is Andrew still alive? How will Anderson, Robert, Coats, ad Katlin get out of their situation? Happy reading!

~Written by XxSniperAssassinxX

* * *

><p>September 25, 2186<p>

Vancouver, Canada

10:03 am

Katlin Frost

As soon as the grenade exploded and I saw Andrew fly off the roof, I tossed my rifle to the side and ran to the edge. I knew there was a very slim chance he was still alive, but I couldn't stop myself from checking anyway.

Andrew had to be alive, he just had to. He couldn't die.

Before I could get to the edge, a bullet flew through my leg and I collapsed just feet away from the edge. I rolled over and saw three Cannibals approaching me. I scrambled for my rifle, but one of the Cannibals kicked it away before I could grab it.

The Cannibal aimed it's cannon at me to finish me off, but before it could execute me, multiple bullets tore through it and it fell to the ground.

Anderson skidded to a stop in front of me, firing an M-8 Avenger at the remaining Cannibals. He killed one while the other took cover from his hail of bullets. Once he depleted his thermal clip, he turned towards me and extended a hand.

I refused it.

"Andrew!" I shouted. "Check the edge, he could still be alive!"

He looked at me and shook his head, "There's no way he could've survived." I shouted at him again as tears began filling my eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere without him!"

Anderson begrudgingly reloaded, fired a few more rounds over the last Cannibal's head, and went to the edge to check for Andrew. He leaned over, then looked back at me and gave me a nod.

My heart skipped a beat as Anderson tossed me his rifle and leaned over further to pull Andrew up. I wasn't Christian, but I still thanked God for keeping Andrew alive. The last Cannibal peeked it's head over the vent it was hiding behind, and I fired a few rounds at it. My bullets simply pinged off the vent, leaving the Cannibal unharmed. It stood up and prepared to launch a grenade at me when it's head exploded.

Coats ran over to me and helped me up, but he didn't have his Widow. I glanced over at the shuttle and saw Rob leaning against the opening, an M-98 Widow sniper rifle pressed against his shoulder. Once again, my heart skipped a beat. I was beginning to doubt he would ever wake up.

Rob reloaded the large rifle and scanned the rooftop, looking for any more threats. Coats got me to the shuttle before Andrew and Anderson arrived.

I glanced over at Andrew, and saw that his armor was badly damaged, and there were a few bits of shrapnel embedded in his face, but the clothes he was wearing underneath his armor were perfectly intact. Coats placed me in a seat in the back of the shuttle, and Anderson set Andrew down next to me.

I pulled a piece of shrapnel out of his cheek and he flinched, but I could tell he tried hiding it. "Are you okay?" I asked him quietly. He grunted as he nodded yes. Rob and Anderson scanned the roof while Anderson got back in the cockpit.

Once again, bullets began pinging off the shuttle. "Another wave of Cannibals incoming!" Rob shouted back at Anderson. Andrew tried standing up, but I pulled him back down into his seat. "You need to rest." I told him.

He shook his head. "They need the extra rifle. And it's not like I'm wrestling Krogan, Katlin. I'm laying down and kickin' ass." I let go of his tattered armor and he limped over to the weapon locker, where he found an M-8 Avenger.

He hobbled over to Rob and tapped him on the shoulder. They both smirked and Rob moved over to the side, making room for Andrew to lay down in between him and Coats.

After firing off a thermal clip, Andrew handed his rifle up to Rob, and Rob handed his Widow down to Andrew. I had heard stories of Andrew's skill with a sniper rifle, but I just now realized I'd never seen him use one. I got up and peeked my head past Coats to try and get a look outside.

There had to be at least twelve Cannibals firing at the shuttle. I heard one of those roars that Reapers make, and the whole building shook.

"There's a Reaper Destroyer firing on the hospital!" Anderson shouted back at us. Just as Andrew took the head off a Cannibal and both Coats and Rob killed a couple more, one of the dragons landed behind the line of Cannibals.

Coats pulled Anderson out of his seat and shouted above all the gunfire. "Everyone out of the shuttle!" Andrew did a summersault out of the shuttle and slammed into the air ventilation system. Robert helped me out and we both sat down next to Andrew.

Coats and Anderson sat down on the other side of Andrew and tossed a couple of grenades over the vent. We heard the Reaper below us fire again, and the corner our shuttle was on crumbled and fell to the ground.

The explosion from the shuttle made me jump. I heard a ping on the vent behind me and I looked up to see a grenade land in front of me. I stared at it for a second before kicking it off the crumbled section of the roof.

It exploded just as it began falling, and more of the roof collapsed. We were now only a couple meters from joining the shuttle in the ground. The dragon fired a few rounds at us, and I thought it was going to shake the whole building apart. The sound of the explosions was deafening, but everyone else was unphased. They just kept firing and firing.

Anderson's omni-tool lit up and we heard a female voice come from it. "Admiral Anderson, this is Helo Five-Seven. Looks like you could use some air support, sir."

Anderson smiled and replied, "Yes! Thank you, five-seven!" Just as Anderson finished his sentence, an Alliance gunship rose up behind the dragon and the few Cannibals that were left.

It fired two rockets at the Cannibals, then unloaded on the dragon with it's canon. The rounds tore through the dragon's armor, splattering it's 'blood' everywhere.

Eventually, the dragon lurched and exploded. Helo Five-Seven banked to the right to avoid crashing from the explosion. The pilot's voice came from Anderson's omni-tool again. "Roof's clear, sir! Want me to call for a shuttle?"

"Thank you for the assist, Helo! We'll find our own way out of here." Anderson shouted into his omni-tool. And with that, the gunship flew off, probably to help someone else.

Rob, Coats, and Anderson stood up and scanned the roof. Andrew helped me up and I leaned on him. "How's your leg?" He asked me.

"Fine," I replied. He nodded and Anderson gave an order to Rob and Coats. Rob came back to us as Anderson and Coats started off toward the stairs leading into the hospital.

Andrew collapsed his rifle and put it on his back. "So Anderson and Coats are scouting ahead?" Andrew asked Rob.

"Yeah," He replied. "They didn't want to leave you two defenseless, so they told me to stay back with you."

Andrew took the rifle off his back and handed it to Rob. "Here. We're gonna go with Coats and Anderson. No way I'm staying on this roof. You take the sniper and give Katlin the Avenger. I'll just use my biotics if we get in a fight."

Rob nodded and handed me his rifle, then shouldered Andrew's.

I tried putting weight on my wounded leg, but I instantly regretted it. I collapsed and screamed. Andrew kneeled down next to me and applied some medi-gel; the pain left and the wound healed immediately.

"Thank you." I said quietly. Andrew smiled and helped me back to my feet. I put weight on my leg again, and it didn't hurt at all.

The building shook again as the Reaper below us continued to fire. More of the crumbled section of the roof fell, and this time, I fell with it.

I screamed as I flailed out for anything to grab on to. There was no roof to get a hold of, and I barely missed Andrew's hand reaching out for me.

I only fell one floor, but it hurt like hell. The M-8 Avenger bounced off the roof, and I nearly followed it. I hit the pile of rubble and blacked out.


End file.
